The philosophy of education encompasses relevant schools of thought and their responses to the social issues in education. It primarily revolves around the critical concepts of equality, equity, social justice, peace, and other stimulating factors to educate people on moral virtues from a philosophical perspective (Davids and Waghid, 2021). At the same time, the philosophy of education provides a view of the social issues through the lens of established traditions, such as existentialism, perennialism, and essentialism, to demonstrate the significance and gravity of the problems (Barnett, 2021). Nevertheless, the underlying aim of the approach is to identify the existing educational issues and provide beneficial insights for educators and students to resolve them (Davids and Waghid, 2021). There are multiple debates concerning the effectiveness of philosophical traditions, particularly on the problems of curriculum and diversity in education (Pring, 2018; Hilt, Riese and Søreide, 2019). For instance, progressivism heavily emphasizes democratic values and freedom in education, while perennialism focuses on critical thinking (Kooli, Zidi and Jamrah, 2019). Ultimately, it is essential to thoroughly examine contemporary educational issues from a philosophical perspective to determine the most effective and socially-oriented solutions.
Since various philosophical traditions present a unique perspective on learning, educators can extract the most beneficial elements of the models to enhance their teaching processes. It is essential to approach this problem from philosophical and critical thinking viewpoints to form an unbiased opinion on the philosophy of education. For instance, progressivism is a unique approach that emphasizes student freedoms; however, it might encounter backlash in deeply cultural nations, as seen in the example of Japan (Shorb, 2019; Quan et al., 2019). Therefore, the relative usefulness of the philosophical traditions significantly depends on various external factors, including culture and politics. In other words, the effectiveness of progressivism is lower in cultures with established educational traditions and culturally-oriented social systems (Kaya and Kaya, 2017). On the other hand, classical models might lose their relative usefulness in progressive democratic societies that actively demand a more substantial emphasis on equity and diversity (Kooli, Zidi and Jamrah, 2019). Ultimately, this argument is not necessarily a negative issue; however, it is crucial to consider cultural specificities, global trends, and students’ opinions to establish a practical curriculum based on the chosen philosophical tradition.
The focus of the current assignment is to examine the approach of academic activism and social justice in contemporary educational issues from a philosophical perspective. The preliminary hypothesis is that the chosen model is highly effective in enhancing the quality of education in the aspects of social justice and equality, but it is associated with several cultural and social limitations. Therefore, it is crucial to study the existing literature on the topic and review the current debates concerning the effectiveness of various philosophical approaches and their responses to relevant problems in education.
Research Aims and Research Questions
The primary aim of the research is to critically examine contemporary educational issues from a philosophical perspective, emphasizing the approaches of academic activism and progressivism. The research questions are:
- How can educators utilize the philosophical traditions of academic activism and progressivism to enhance their teaching processes?
- What are the obstacles to the examined approaches, and how can alternative philosophical traditions complement the teaching models?
Methodology
The search strategy includes the literature review, primarily based on accessible academic databases, such as Google Scholar, and relevant publishers, such as Routledge and Springer (Table 1).
Reference List
Barnett, R. (2021) The philosophy of higher education: A critical introduction. Routledge.
Davids, N. and Waghid, Y. (2021) Academic activism in higher education: A living philosophy for social justice. Springer.
Hilt, L. T., Riese, H., & Søreide, G. E. (2019) ‘Narrow identity resources for future students: The 21st century skills movement encounters the Norwegian education policy context’, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 51(3), pp. 384-402.
Kaya, Ç. and Kaya, S. (2017) ‘Prospective teachers’ educational beliefs and their views about the principles of critical pedagogy’, Journal of Education and Learning, 6(4), pp. 181-190.
Kooli, C., Zidi, C. and Jamrah, A. (2019) ‘The philosophy of education in the sultanate of Oman: Between perennialism and progressivism’, American Journal of Education and Learning, 4(1), pp. 36-49.
Pring, R. (2018) ‘Philosophical debates on curriculum, inequalities and social justice’, Oxford Review of Education, 44(1), pp. 6-18.
Quan et al. (2019) ‘Empowerment and transformation: Integrating teacher identity, activism, and criticality across three teacher education programs’, Review of Education, 41(4-5), pp. 218-251.
Shorb, P. N. (2019) ‘Educational Progressivism, Cultural Encounters and Reform in Japan’, Educational Studies in Japan, 13, pp. 169-171.